Be Still & Know

Socrates wrote that the unexamined life is not worth living. But it’s difficult to do the work of reflection on life in the midst of it. There is always something that seems more important to do, more urgent to finish. Time taken for reflection can seem self indulgent. 

It’s plain hard for most of us to get away from the daily routine. It takes a lot of energy to make arrangements to go somewhere. And when we come back, it is often to an overfull inbox with projects and tasks piled up in our absence. It hardly seems worth the trouble sometimes.

In spite of all that, next Tuesday afternoon I will be settling in for a week in a one room Amish-built hermitage on the grounds of St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph MN. From the 3rd through the 10th, I’ll be on retreat. I try to get up to St. Ben’s once a year for rest and time away just to be with myself and God for a change

The first day or so is often spent catching up on rest. I often luxuriate in the solitude, with no one, even the cat, to make demands on me. 

Later, a strange kind of restlessness can set in. I’m so used to doing things, to having most of my time structured and filled by life and work and relationships. I fidget and have a hard time settling in for reading or prayer or journaling or much of anything. I feel like I want to go home and get back to normal life.

If I persevere through this period, a new kind of rhythm for the days and nights can be established. I give up watching the time. Meals happen when I’m hungry. I go to bed when I’m tired. I might lose myself in writing or needlework or playing with crayons or watercolors. 

The silence in the hermitage can either be a balm or a wall that I feel closing in on me. In the silence there is nowhere to hide from what is really happening in my depths. Hopes, griefs, desires all become more accessible to me.

I don’t plan what will happen on retreat. I don’t consciously examine my life or ministry on retreat. What needs attention will be made clear in the time I’m away. If I do think I know what the week will be like, the Spirit usually pulls the rug out from under those expectations. 

Your idea of retreat might well be very different from mine. But I highly recommend the practice. You never know what God has in store when you take the time to be still.

Kate, OSB

Come Wednesday night, October 4th, for the

Early Bird Parishioner sale 5 pm.

Stay for Wilderness Wednesday!

A Very Special Dinner Invitation

Come on out for a special dinner, hosted by University Episcopal Students and cooked by our very own Chef Davis Long, a UEC alum and former St. John's youth! Besides enjoying a wonderful meal, the evening will be an opportunity to meet members of the 417 House, UEC's Intentional Community House, hear about hopes and dreams for the new lounge space, and get us thinking about how we might support the work happening over at UEC, both as individuals and as a faith community. The dinner will be held at the Riverside Lounge, located at 403 SE 8th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55414 from 6:30-9:00pm on 10/5. Carpool options are available. Contact Maggie here, or register here.

Chancel Choir Rehearsal Starts October 4

Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done

St. John's Chancel Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings 7:15-8:45 pm in the St. Cecilia room. The choir sings on the first and third Sundays of the month, lessons and carols, and Holy Week. For more information, contact David Lim ([email protected])

Wild John for the Fall!

Our Wild Johns Club resumes this Monday evening 10/2 at 6:00PM. Instead of paddling, we'll walk together in the Tamarack Nature Center, which is particularly beautiful this time of year. Meet at the picnic tables in front of the main building to share a light meal, and then we'll depart for our hike. After our hike, we will finish our evening together with compline. Please note that there are both paved trails, as well as more rugged outer trails, so whatever your level of walking or hiking comfortability, there is something for you. Tamarack is located at 5287 Otter Lake Rd, White Bear Township, MN 55110.

Wilderness Wednesdays!

We have resumed Wednesday night programming. From 5:30-6pm, we will share in a light supper, and then from 6-8pm, we will offer a variety of ongoing program options. Some of our offerings will include Heartbeat band practices (for all ages), a maker's space, game nights, Bible studies, CONNECT group gatherings, and more. Childcare will be available in our downstairs nursery throughout the evening.

Transformed by the Word: Bible Study

The Gospel of Luke

Join us in person or online here.

Join us on Wednesday evenings at 6:15 pm in the Parlor for a study of the Gospel of Luke. There will be an Advent study beginning in December. Facilitators: Kathy Smith and Sylvia Lovett.Books for each participant are $12.99 or whatever donation you can make. Checks may be made out to St John in the Wilderness with ‘Transformed’ in the memo line.

Click anywhere below to find out more and sign up for our new

CONNECT groups!

The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully, Joan Chittister

11 am Wednesdays, October 25, November 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, in the Parlor

Join in reading and reflecting on Joan Chittister’s book about not only accepting but celebrating getting older. This inspirational and illuminating work looks at the many facets of the aging process, from purposes and challenges to struggles and surprises. Facilitated by Kate Maxwell OSB. Email Kate for more info and to rsvp.

Our Fall Second Sunday series, from October through December, will focus on food - the process of producing, cooking, and sharing it with others.Our first one, Sunday, October 8th, we are welcoming the Rev. Kerri Meyer from Good Courage Farm to join us for a forum on Good Courage and as our guest preacher. You can find the Good Courage website here.

Good Courage is nonprofit agrarian ministry in central Minnesota, connected to the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, and located on the ancestral homelands of our Wahpekute and Mdewakanton neighbors. Good Courage Farm is a place where neighbors of all faiths and none gather to work for food justice and to witness God’s renewing love for all of Creation. If you would enjoy an opportunity to be on the farm at harvest time, please join them this Labor Day weekend for their September “Come + See” Saturday. They'll offer a walking tour of the farm, share biscuits and jam, join together in some farmwork, and sing midday prayer together in the Silo chapel. Come on out on September 2, from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon. Kids and church groups are welcome (let us know if you’ll be coming with 6 or more people). Wear sturdy shoes and bring a water bottle. Our next and final 2023 “Come + See” will be Saturday, October 7.

Help fill our worship space with flowers!!

Altar flowers can be and are more than mere ornaments. They are the expression of our love for God as well as a means of glorifying God's name in all the earth (Psalm 9:11).

Check out the new sign up on the PRAY board in the You can also order and pay online here.

SJW Fellowship Opportunities!

Direct questions to Chantell Knauss at [email protected] or 651.387.8288.

Future Fellowship Events:

• Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 2pm – “Mean Girls” musical at Mahtomedi High School
• Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 7:30pm - "She Loves Me, the Holiday Musical” at Lakeshore Players
• Sunday, February 4, 2024 at 2pm – “Clue” play at Mahtomedi High School
• Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 2pm - “The Addams Family” musical at Mahtomedi High School
• Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 7:30pm - "Come From Away" at the Ordway
• Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at 7:30pm - "SIX" at the Ordway

We hope you can join us!

Christian Community at College

Is someone in your family, parish or community at college in the Twin Cities this fall? If so, you can give them the gift of connection to a ready-made community. We wish it wasn’t true, but loneliness and social isolation are “epidemic”, in the words of the US Surgeon General in May of this year.

The University Episcopal Community (UEC) offers Christian fellowship through Sunday evening dinner, worship and learning and now a drop-in center at Riverside Lounge. Other special events are scheduled and all are welcome to show up and belong. The most important thing for us at UEC is how we welcome everyone–with unconditional love. We hope that this can be a space for students to grow closer to themselves, each other, and God.

Let us know who your young people are and how to get in touch by emailing Steve Mullaney, Executive Director at the UEC at [email protected]. Thank you!

St. John's Emergency Food Shelf

Nearly 30% of children enrolled in the White Bear Lake Area School District qualify for free or reduced lunch. Some WBL schools are as high as 70% eligible.

If Minnesota food shelves were open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, more than seven people would visit a food shelf every minute.

Our tiny food shelf in the north entry is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Help us keep it stocked. We need items that can be used by people with possibly no stove, or microwave, or even a refrigerator.

• protein bars and drinks
• prepared ready to eat meals such as tuna & crackers or lunchables
• Peanut butter & other nut butters
• Crackers
• Canned fruit in 100% juice and shelf-stable fruit cups
• Unsweetened applesauce cups
• Dried fruits, vegetables with no added sugar or salt
• Nuts

What we don't need:

× Food in glass jars. × Anything beyond its printed Expiration date.

× Damaged, already opened food items. × Rusty or unmarked cans of food.

× Homemade food items. × Soda and sweetened drinks

× Sweets: cookies, cakes, candy. × Ramen noodles

× Any food you would NOT eat or feed your family.

Items can be dropped off in the entryway, next to the food shelf. Please leave them in a bag next to the shelf and thank you so much.

ECMN Convention 2023 Registration is OPEN!

The 166th Convention of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota

November 10-11, 2023

St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Eden Prairie

Special Guest: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

Learn more and register here.

Weekly News and a Weekly Message from Bishop Loya

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota also has a weekly e-news, where you can read a message from Bishop Craig Loya, (or sometimes a special guest author), and read about what is happening in the Episcopal Church in MN and beyond! A great way to stay connected and learn about our church outside the walls of St. John's. 

To receive the ECMN news go here, scroll to the very bottom right and sign up.

For the Parish

Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven

and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen

the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent.

Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring

us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BCP p. 817

Parish Family Prayer List



Angie, Jill, Charlie R, David G, Diane R, Greg B, Holly, Janet K, Janni K, Jeffrey C, Kathy S, Kimberly, Kurt N, Larry K, Lorna C, Marcella S, Marilyn K, Mark K, Michael M, Melissa S, Nancy H, Pat P, Rick S, Tom H, and all who care for them. We also pray for Members of the Armed Forces.

For those who are mourning.



Click the button or email prayer@stjohnwilderness to request prayers and to be added to the parish prayer list. The list is renewed monthly.

Morning Prayer & Compline

Join us on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8 AM for morning prayer and

Monday and Friday evenings at 8:30 PM for Compline.

Both prayer services are held via Google Meet. All are welcome.

The word liturgy comes from a Greek term meaning “public work or work done on behalf of the people.” Liturgy always referred to an organized community. A work, then, done by an individual or a group was a liturgy on behalf of the larger community.

If you would like to become part of the many ministries that help make our work, our worship, our liturgies, our community, please talk to one of our clergy.

Click on Rejoice to give and pledge.

Connect!

Financial Coordinator: Maureen Vruno | [email protected] 651-429-5351 ext 12

Rising Generations Coordinator: Maggie DeSmet | [email protected]

Parish Coordinator: Carrie Thomas | [email protected] 651-429-5351

Deacon: The Rev. Margaret Thor | [email protected]

Associate Priest: The Rev. Kate Maxwell, OSB |

[email protected] 651-263-3840

Rector: The Rev. Arthur Hancock |

[email protected] 651-350-8425

Our current Health & Safety Protocols

• St. John’s encourages all of its members to get vaccinated and boosted.
• If you feel sick or have the typical symptoms of Covid-19, we ask you to worship with us online.
• Masks are optional while inside all parish buildings for those who are boosted and vaccinated. For those who are unvaccinated and for your own protection, we recommend that you worship with us online or that you continue to wear your mask while inside our buildings. If conditions change and we experience another surge of Covid-19, we may have to alter our protocols and ask our members and guests to wear masks once again.
• While seated in the Church or in the Parish Hall, we recommend that all maintain an appropriate physical distance from those outside of your household.